Clatterbox

Although the London-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clear%22">Clear</a> label kicked off its now-celebrated catalog of releases with singles from a range of widely known talent (Reload/<a href="spotify:artist:6YktolrgGPFMwWrmAgf4hu">Global Communication</a>, Mike Paradinas/<a href="spotify:artist:7AiamoV760pPGGM5PbOC6X">µ-Ziq</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2vTylPga7qiTFjmDFBxofA">Acen</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5akVqMzdZOdbMYbE4vNZWD">Plaid</a>), they were also quick to cultivate a homegrown stable of lo-fi innovators, including <a href="spotify:artist:0zdn1nNmOZXHZ9K28FvcFp">Matthew "Dr. Rockit" Herbert</a> and David "Clatterbox" Kempston. Like <a href="spotify:artist:0zdn1nNmOZXHZ9K28FvcFp">Herbert</a>, whose singles and remixes as <a href="spotify:artist:3OTxAJPE5mwEIB3zRujYcW">Wishmountain</a> (for <a href="spotify:artist:4PknV7eTrlIGfAqRxzIGdD">Universal Language</a>) and under his own name (for Phono, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reflective%22">Reflective</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SSR%22">SSR</a>, among others) have mined the more pedestrian capacities of the sampler, Clatterbox's sound is reliant on a sort of refined, left-field minimalism. With tracks often composed of only three or four loops judiciously arranged, Kempston's work occasionally suffers for its simplicity. But as with early hip-hop producers such as <a href="spotify:artist:2HKVO06HXqGmQxZJ8xIqgr">Man Parrish</a>, the Unknown DJ, and <a href="spotify:artist:5BH1lyOgYJfsUiwuAhYtRx">"Pretty" Tony Butler</a>, Kempston's aesthetic forces him to make a little go a long way, often to marvelous effect. It's hip-hop and electro from which Kempston most often draws, of course, but unlike many of the electro nu-school, his sound is hardly retro; tracks such as "Matterrox" and "Dunk" may tip their hat here and there with thick, talk box-y bass, handclaps, and rubbery synth work, but his fusion of elements from a range of sources (funk, house, experimental techno, industrial/EBM) with a characteristic humor and knack for extracting musicality from the oddest of sources defies easy dismissal. In addition to his material as Clatterbox proper, Kempston has also released a pair of 12"s on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clear%22">Clear</a> simply titled "Clatterbeats"; stripped-down vignettes intended for DJ use rather than home listening. ~ Sean Cooper, Rovi